Case Competitions

Team building is a challenging process that can ultimately make or break the success of a project. To improve the experience and performance of your group, consider discussing the following questions early on with your team: 

• What are everyone's strengths in the group? What skills or knowledge does each team member bring? 
• What are your agreed methods of communicating with one another? 
• What are the agreed norms for meetings? 
• What is your strategy for getting to know one another? 
• How will the group ensure shared leadership and track commitments? 
• What will the group do if a member is not contributing or completing work? 
• What actions will the group take if there is conflict within the group? 
• What steps will the group take if one member is unreasonably dominating? 

When starting off in a new group, you might find that it may take a while to "gel" and get into a rhythm. A beneficial framework to consider is Bruce Tuckman's Five Stages of Group Development. These stages include: 

• Forming: Orientation 
• Norming: Catharsis 
• Storming: Focus, Action, Limbo, Testing 
• Performing: Purposive, Task Performance 
• Adjourning: Group separation 

Understanding the behavioral patterns of group development may better help team leaders positively deal with issues as they arise, and move towards a more productive and effective teamwork strategies. 

Sources: Tuckman, Bruce W. “Developmental Sequence in Small Groups.” Psychological bulletin 63.6 (1965): 384–399. Web. Retrieved from Purdue Libraries ; Tuckman, Bruce W, and Mary Ann C Jensen. “Stages of Small-Group Development Revisited.” Group & organization management 2.4 (1977): 419–427. Web. Retrieved from Purdue Libraries